MORE THAN HALF of people in Scotland do not want another independence referendum next year, according to a new poll.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced plans for a second vote on the issue on October 19 2023.

With the UK Government refusing to grant consent for such a ballot to be held, Ms Sturgeon is asking UK Supreme Court judges to rule if Holyrood can hold a referendum without the backing of Westminster.

However, when asked whether a referendum should take place next October, 53% of people said it should not, 40% said it should, and the remainder were undecided, a poll for The Scotsman found.

If Supreme Court judges rule the ballot cannot take place, Ms Sturgeon has already declared that the next Westminster election will be a “de facto referendum” on Scotland’s place in the UK.

The Scotsman poll, carried out by Savanta ComRes, found that 44% of those questioned support independence, while 46% are opposed, both down 1% from a survey last month, while 10% were undecided, which was up three percentage points.

When don’t knows were removed, 49% said they would vote Yes, while 51% said they would vote No, which was unchanged.

Savanta ComRes interviewed 1,029 Scottish adults aged 16 or over online between June 23 and 28.

Associate director Chris Hopkins told the newspaper that the results on the question of whether Scotland should be an independent country are “practically neck and neck”.

He said: “Support for a second independence referendum without a Section 30 is driven by those in the Yes camp; opposition comes almost wholly from the No camp.

“Four in five Yes voters say the case for independence is stronger now than in 2014, a majority of No voters say it’s weaker now.

“The battle lines that were drawn in 2014 are all too familiar, and Nicola Sturgeon’s defiance to hold a referendum at almost any cost just deepens this divide.”